The Mets were defeated by the Phillies by a score of 8-7 in 13 innings this evening at Citizens Bank Park. Rudy Seanez got the win for the Phils, while Scott Schoeneweis took the loss for the Mets.

There is really not much to say about this game, but you cannot blow a 7-0 lead. The Mets got off to a fast start against Jamie Moyer, getting two runs in the 1st, one in the 2nd and three in the third, on the strength of a Fernando Tatis three run homer. Damion Easley also chipped in with a big night, with four hits. Too bad the offense went to sleep and didn’t score for the next nine innings.

At the end of four, the Mets ahd built a 7-1 lead. Pedro Martinez was cruising along until the suddenly red hot Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard hit two run homers each, to make it 7-5.

Brian Stokes relieved Pedro and gave the Mets two shutout innings, Bravo Stokes!

In the 8th, the bullpen meltdown began. Pedro Feliciano came on to allow two hits to Chris Coste and Rollins, but limited the damage to one run by striking out Chase Utley. Joe Smith got Burrell to fly out to the warning track.

Luis Ayala came on to get the save, and it went smooth at the start, getting Ryan Howard to fly out to deep center and getting Shane Victorino to ground out. It all started with a broken bat single by Jayson Werth. Eric Bruntlett, the .214 light hitting utility man, came up to bat, and drove a double to the gap in right center. Ryan Church got the ball in quickly to Easley, and had Easley made a throw on the fly to Schneider, Werth would have been a dead duck. Instead, the ball scooted past and Werth tied the game.

Aaron Heilman threw three innings of scoreless ball, Bravo Aaron!

In the 13th, Scott Schoeneweis allowed a leadoff triple to Victorino, who later scored on a Chris Coste single.

Worst loss of the year. I know there have been alot of these, but in none of them did we blow a 7-0 lead. Absolutely disgusting.

The Mets and Phillies begin a mini two game set at Citizens Bank Park this evening starting at 7:05 EST. Jamie Moyer will face off against Pedro Martinez. The game can be seen on SNY and can be heard on WFAN.

Keys to the Game:

• Solve Moyer: In his career, Moyer has a 2.85 ERA against the Mets. David Wright is one of the few Mets who has been able to hit Moyer, with a .433 career batting average. Moyer has been the Phillies 2nd best starter this year, with his 3.54 ERA. If we want to win this division, we are going to have to beat up the Phillies pitching.
• Hold Down the Big Guns: Ryan Howard hits home runs, Ryan Howard also strikes out a ton. It is not hard to get Howard out, as he does it himself most of the time. Do not throw Howard any good pitches to hit, because if you do he will crush it.

For a lineup, head to Adam Rubin’s blog for the Daily News.

As always, to chat during the game, head to the Hot Foot Bleachers.

The Mets and Phillies begin a big two game set tomorrow evening, at Citizens Bank Park, where the Mets are 5-2 this season. The Mets are fresh off a nice 9-1 romp of the ‘Stros and the Phillies are fresh off a four game sweep of those sad, sad Dodgers, who can’t hit to save their lives. Seriously, who gets 13 hits on consecutive nights and scores two runs and zero runs, respectively. Anyway, The Phils are rolling. They are getting pitching AND hitting at the same time for the first time in close to eight weeks. Even Jimmy Rollins busted out in a big way last night, going 3-3, after going through a 4-47 streak. Everyone in the lineup seems to be clicking, aside from Ryan Howard, who just can’t seem to get a consistent streak going this season. As much as i hate the guy, Shane Victorino is a hustler, and you have to respect that. With the game tied at two Saturday night, Victorino stretched a single into a double on a lazy throw by Manny Ramirez. The Phils later won the game 5-2 on a Pedro Feliz walkoff homer. Everyone keeps saying their pitching is their achilles heal, but Cole Hamels and Brett Myers have both pitched like aces so far in August. Jamie Moyer may be the biggest surprise of the Phils staff, posting a 3.54 ERA this year. Along with those three, righties Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick have ok stuff, but get away with it with good control. All in all, it should make for an entertaining two games. Let’s take a closer look at the pitching matchups.

Game 1 features the aforementioned Moyer versus Pedro Martinez. Martinez has been terrific in August, not allowing more than three earned runs in any start this month. He has also gone seven innings in his last two starts. With the way Pedro is pitching right now, I’ve gotta give the edge to the Mets in this game, but it will not be a cakewalk, as the Phils won’t roll over.

Game two features ace Johan Santana against Kyle Kendrick. Now, Santana has 12 wins, and Kendrick has 11… What? Yes, Kendrick, who is not 1/10 of the pitcher Santana is, has 11 wins. Don’t get me wrong, Kendrick is a fine pitcher, but benefits from huge run support from that Phils offense. As good as the Phils offense has been for Kendrick, i find it hard they will be getting much off Santana, with the way he is going. Advantage Mets.

Lastly, the bullpens. The Mets bullpen has blown 21 saves this year, while the Phillies closer Brad Lidge has been perfect in save situations this year. If the Mets want to win these games, they are going to need good work out of the pen.

All in all, these are both very winnable games, with the Mets missing the Phillies two best pitchers (Hamels and Myers) and the Mets throwing their best pitcher in one of the games.

Mike Pelfrey has been one of the team’s best pitcher consistently this year, if not the best. What’s truly amazing is from Spring Training through much of May, Pelfrey looked like a deer in the headlights. Him and his unshaven face, the menacing mouthpiece (which, come on, really wasn’t menacing) that got knocked around on a consistent basis. Pelfrey was pitching scared, and I assume he felt like every game he was being closely watched, as this could be his last start if he doesn’t produce. Then there was Billy Wagner’s tee shirt in spring training, which said BIG PELF. Little did we know, that it would actually be used as a nickname, rather than the basis for a joke against Pelf.

Than, the light bulb went off. It all started on that May 31st afternoon, when he went pitch for pitch with Dodgers ace Chad Billingsley. It was was a true coming of age for Pelfrey, as he showed he could hang with the other big time arms in the NL. Sure, there have been some bumps in the road against the Reds, and that team he can’t seem to beat, but overall, Pelfrey has been everything we could have hoped for, and then some. Pelfrey has been a horse, and only looks to be getting stronger as the season goes along.

The Mets defeated the Astros by a score of 9-1 this evening at Shea Stadium. Mike Pelfrey got his 13th win of the year, and Brian Moehler took his first loss in his last nine starts.

Pelfrey went the distance for the second consecutive start, allowing one run on five hits. Pelfrey was in cruise control throughout the night, until he hit a bump in the road in the 9th, when he allowed a run on an rbi groundout.

Carlos Delgado awoke in a big way tonight, with 2 three run home runs. He finished with six RBI on the night, and also made a defensive gem behind Pelfrey in the 9th.

Jose Reyes added a two RBI triple, driving in Ryan Church and Pelfrey.

As of right now the Phillies are beating the Dodgers 5-0 in the 9th, so if this stands the Mets will have a half game lead going into tomorrow’s mini two game set versus the Phillies. Jamie Moyer will oppose Pedro Martinez.

The Mets and Astros play the final game of their four game set this evening at Shea Stadium, with the Mets looking to split the series. Astros RHP Brian Moehler (9-4) will take on Mike Pelfrey (12-8). The game can be seen on SNY and can be heard on WFAN.

Keys to the Game:

• Avoid the Big Inning: Yesterday, with the Mets up 3-1, the Astros had a man on 2nd with 2 outs with Hunter Pence at the plate. Now, the free swinging Pence can be thrown balls out of the strike zone and he will swing at them, much like Jeff Francoeur. Instead, Ollie Perez threw a first pich fastball down the middle and Pence jumped on it to tie the game at 3. Instead of scoring one, the ‘Stros scored three. If Pelfrey can keep innings like that from snowballing tonight, we should be in good shape.
• Welcome Back, Castillo: With the John Maine being placed on the DL this afternoon, Luis Castillo will make his return to the lineup tonight, batting 2nd and playing second base. Castillo has not played in close to six weeks.

For a lineup, head to the Journal News.

For a chat, head to the Hot Foot Bleachers.

The Mets were defeated by the Astros by a score of 6-4 this afternoon at Shea Stadium. LaTroy Hawkins got the win for the ‘Stros and Pedro Feliciano took the loss for the Mets. Jose Valverde closed it for his 33rd save of the year. The Mets and Phillies are now tied in the loss column in the NL East.

Starter Oliver Perez went 6.1 innings, allowing four runs, most notably a two run shot off the bat of Hunter Pence. Aaron Heilman relieved Perez in the 7th, and pulled a usual Heilman move. He went a third of an inning, allowing two hits, one inherited run to score, and got his only out on a play at the plate when Fernando Tatis threw out Geoff  Blum.

Carlos Beltran did some yardwork today, hitting two homers from the right side of the plate off noted Met killer Randy Wolf. They were only Beltran’s third and fourth homers from the right side of the dish this year.

Joe Smith Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala combined on 2.1 innings of scoreless ball.

In the 10th, Feliciano allowed homers to the unusual suspects, Brad Ausmus and Darin Erstad to put the game out of reach.

On a day where the Astros were basically handing us the game by sitting their big slugger Lance Berkman, the Mets flopped and were not able to get the job done against the weaker part of the Astros lineup.

The last 15 Mets were retired in order. This is the second time the Astros pitching staff has retired more than 15 Mets in a row, the first spanned between the 1st and 2nd games, when Roy Oswalt and Brandon Backe retired 34 straight Mets.

The Mets look for the split tomorrow with Mike Pelfrey opposing Brian Moehler.

The Mets look to take control of their series against the Astros in game three of the four game set. Oliver Perez will oppose Randy Wolf. Gametime is slated for 1:10 EST and can be seen on the CW11 and can be heard on WFAN.

Keys to the Game:

• Breakthrough Against Wolf: Wolf has owned the Mets throughout his career. He has beaten us twice already with two different teams this year (Astros and Padres) and has a 11-5 record career against the Mets. Wolf allowed six earned in his last start, so it’s not like he’s throwing particularly well. Although, look at Brandon Backe. Enough said.
• !Es Tatis Time!: After a few days on the bench after the return of Ryan Church, Tatis will make his first start in three days to spell Church against the lefty. Tatis was huge was this team, so it’s nice to see Jerry Manuel looking for spots to get his guys playing time.

For a lineup, check out John Delcos’ blog for The Journal News.

As always, to chat during the game, head to The Hot Foot Bleachers.

The Mets and Astros play game two of their four game set tonight at Shea Stadium. John Maine will make hie third start off the DL for the Mets, and Brandon Backe will look for his eighth win for the Astros. Gametime is slated for 7:10 EST and the game can be seen on SNY.

Keys to the Game:

• Hold Down Berkman: Astros 1B Lance Berkman has been a stabilizing force in the Astros for all of this year. With Carlos Lee now down for the year, Berkman is the one bat in the Astro lineup that you can’t let beat you.
• Need A Solid Six From Maine: In his first two starts off the DL, Maine has gone five innings in each game. In game one, Brian Stokes was successful in relieving Maine, throwing four shutout innings. The second time, not so much. Stokes allowed a game tieing homer to Adam LaRoche, and it was the only game the Mets have lost in their last 11. If Maine can give us a good six, than we can go to Smith/Feliciano in the 7th, Sanchez in the 8th, and Ayala in the 9th.

For a lineup, head to Adam Rubin’s blog for the Daily News.

For in-game chat, banter, and discussion, head on over to The Hot Foot Bleachers.